CONFLICT MANAGEMENT Introduction To Conflict: Conflict is difficult to define, because it occurs in many different settings. The essence of conflict seems to be disagreement, contradiction, or incompatibility. Thus, CONFLICT refers to any situation in which there are incompatible Goals, Cognitions, or Emotions within or between individuals or groups that lead to opposition or antagonistic interaction. The definition recognizes three basic types of conflict: Goal conflict is situation in which desired end states or preferred outcomes appear to be incompatible. Cognitive Conflict is a situation in which ideas or thoughts are inconsistent. Affective Conflict is a situation in which feelings or emotions are incompatible; that is, people literally become angry with one another. Conflict is very common in organizational settings. This is not necessarily a negative feature; the resolution of conflict often leads to constructive problem solving. Conflict exists in many forms other than the form that can result from competition, and managers should understand the different ways of conflict resolution. Thus examines conflict from a variety of view points. It first considers the positive and negative aspects of conflict. Next, it discusses the levels of conflict that can occur within organizations. Finally, it identifies some of the basic strategies for managing conflict. Levels Of Conflict The five levels of conflict are intrapersonal (within an individual), interpersonal (between individuals), intragroup (within a group), intergroup (between groups), and intraorganizational (within organizations). Intrapersonal Conflict Intrapersonal Conflict, which occurs within an individual, often involves some form of goal conflict or cognitive conflict. Goal conflict exists for individuals when their behaviour will result in outcomes that are mutually exclusive or have compatible elements (both positive and negative outcomes). - Approach-approach conflict is a situation in which a person has a choice between two or more alternatives with positive outcomes; for example, a person can choose between two jobs that appear to be equally attractive. - Avoidance - avoidance conflict is a situation in which a person must choose between two or more alternatives, and they all have negative outcomes. For example, employees may be threatened with punishment in the form of demotion unless they do something they dislike spend much time travelling on their job, for example. - Approach-avoidance conflict is a situation in which a person must decide whether to do something that had both positive and negative outcomes, for example, being offered a good job in a bad location. Interpersonal Conflict Interpersonal conflict involves two or more individuals rather than one individual. Two managers competing for the same promotion, two executives maneuvering for a larger share of corporate capital examples of conflict between individuals are legion and quite familiar. Reasons 1. Personality differences: Some people have difficulty in getting along with each other. This is purely a psychological problem and it has nothing to do with their job requirements or formal interactions. 2. Perceptions: Varied backgrounds, experiences, education and training result in individuals developing different perceptions of similar realities; te result being an increase in the likelihood of interpersonal conflict. 3. Clashes of values and interests: Conflict that so commonly develops between engineering and manufacturing personnel shows how differences in values might underlie conflict. Members of the engineering department might place a premium on quality, sophisticated design and durability while members of the manufacturing department might value simplicity and low manufacturing costs. 4. Power and status differences: As pointed out by Abraham Zalenznik "Organizations are political structures". They operate by distributing authority and setting a stage for the exercise of power. Similarly status inconsistencies lead to conflict. 5. Scarce resource: Interpersonal conflict is almost automatic anytime there is scarcity. Conflicts over scarce resources are exceedingly common in organizations. Where the scarcity is absolute (the resource level cannot be enhanced) it is very difficult to manage interpersonal conflicts. For example if three qualified individuals ie. for superior positions in the organization and there is only one such position, interpersonal conflict may develop to an unmanageable level. Intragroup Conflict A group experiencing intragroup conflict, may eventually resolve it, allowing the group to reach a consensus. Or the group may not resolve the conflict, and the group discussion may end in disagreement among the members. A study of a large number of groups engaged in business and governmental decision making, tried to identify some the conditions that lead to (1) the successful resolution of conflict (consensus or (2) the failure to resolve conflict (disagreement). This study showed that conflict within groups is not a simple, single phenomenon. Instead, intragroup conflict seems to fall into two distinct categories : (1) substantive conflict and (2) affective conflict. Substantive conflict refers to conflict based on the nature of the task or to "content" issues. It is associated with intellectual disagreements among the group members. In contrast, affective conflict derives primarily from the group's interpersonal relations. It is associated with emotional responses aroused during interpersonal clashes. Inter-Group Conflict An organization is a collection of individuals and groups. As the situation and requirements demand, the individuals form various groups. The success of the organization as a whole depends upon the harmonial relations among all interdependent groups, even though some intergroup conflicts in organizations is inevitable. The idea is to study intergroup behaviours within an organization so that any conflict can be recognized and dealt with by the management. Intra-Organizational Conflict Four types of intra-organizational conflict exist: (1) vertical conflict (2) horizontal conflict (3) line-staff conflict and (4) role conflict. Although these types of conflict can overlap, especially with role conflict,each has distinctive characteristics. Vertical Conflict: Vertical conflict refers to any conflict between levels in an organization; superior-subordinate conflict is one example. Vertical conflicts usually arise because superiors attempt to controlsubordinates and subordinates. Horizontal Conflict: Horizontal Conflict refers to conflict between employees or departments as the same hierarchical level in an organization. Line-Staff Conflict: Most organizations have staff departments to assist the line departments. The line-staff relationship frequently involves conflict. Staff managers and line managers typically have different personal characteristics. Staff employees tend to have a higher level of education, come from different backgrounds, and are younger than line employees. These different personal characteristics are frequently associated with different values and beliefs, and the surfacing of these different values tends to create conflict. Role Conflict A role is the cluster of activities that others expect individuals to perform in their position. A role frequently involves conflict. Managing Conflict Except in very few situations where the conflict can lead to competition and creativity so that in such situations the conflict can be encouraged, in all other cases where conflict is destructive in nature, it should be resolved as soon after it has developed as possible, but all efforts should be made to prevent it from developing. • Preventing conflict. Some of the preventive measures that the management can take, according to Schein are: a) Goal structure: Goals should be clearly defined and the role and contribution of each unit towards the organizational goal must be clearly identified. All units and the individuals in these units must be aware of the importance of their role and such importance must be fully recognized. b) Reward System: The compensation system should be such that it does not create individual competition or conflict within the unit. It should be appropriate and proportionate to the group effort and reflect the degree of interdependence among units where necessary. c) Trust and communication: The greater the trust among the members of unit, the more honest and open the communication among them would be. Individuals and units should be encouraged to communicate openly with each other so that they can all understand each other, understand each other’s problems and help each other when necessary. d) Co-ordination: Co-ordination is the next step to communication. Properly co-ordinated activity reduce conflict. Wherever there are problems in co-ordination, a special liaison office should be established to assist such co-ordination. • Resolving Behavioural Conflict Various researchers have identified five primary strategies for dealing with and reducing the impact of behavioural conflict. Even though different authors have given different terminology to describe these strategies, the basic content and approach of these strategies remain the same. These are: 1. Ignoring the conflict. In certain situations, it may be advisable to take a passive role and avoid it all together. From the manager’s point of view, it may be specially necessary when getting involved in a situation would provoke further controversy or when conflict is